broken call in the mail

[stone road turkey calls]

I sold a call recently and shiped it USPS, when it arrived it was broken (the slate) customer called and wanted to know what i was going to do. i offer insurance on all sales at a extra charge, but most people do not get it. he wanted to return the call, but i said no and i sent him a new call at no charge. i make calls as a hobby and sell them to help pay for materials and i want everyone to be happy with there calls. did i do the right thing, i think so how would you handle this.

[DeWayne Knight]

I would say by replacing the call even though he declined insurance, that you went above and beyond the call of duty.

[sugarray]

I would say by replacing the call even though he declined insurance, that you went above and beyond the call of duty.

I agree.  You are not responsible for how the USPS handles the calls.  If he didn't want insurance, then he is accepting the risk. 

We live in a society now where people blame everyone else except themselves for their problems.  Again, you did not send a broken call, he accepted the risk of not having insurance, you went way above the call of duty to send him another call.  It does help your name, but just reinforces his thoughts that it is always someone else's fault, never mine.

[NCStrutter]

I think you did the right thing.  If you are doing this for a hobby and covering cost of materials for expenses for other calls you are only out a few bucks.  Simply posting this the way you did let's the entire site know you are a stand up fella and try OT do the right thing.  Chalk it up to a lesson learned; perhaps pack the call a little better next time?  Not saying it's your fault for poor packaging; due to the delicate nature of a pot call with a slate or glass surface is always at risk.  I might have asked for the broken call back to possibly clean up and reuse?  You put your name out there in a cross road situation and came out looking good by your actions!  Regardless of the fault of the broken call, you have a clear conscience that you did the right thing!

In my book, that's all anyone could ask for. Well done!

Jeff

[lightsoutcalls]

I would likely have asked him to send the call back and I would have replaced the surface at no charge.  You did go above and beyond.  Kudos to you.  

As for packaging, what kind of boxes/packing do you use?  I generally ship in the large video mailer priority mail boxes.  This offers about 1/2" of space for packing (I generally use newspaper) on each side of the call.  If I have had to replace a surface, I generally ship back in one of the cube (7x7x6) priority mail boxes.  This gives much more space to add newspaper, foam peanuts, etc. I have had a few calls damaged by the postal service.  One box was so damaged that it never made it to the buyer and the striker was missing from the box when I got it back.  As the old saying goes... stuff happens.

[bird]

As a Postal Employee I can tell you that the insurance that is offered is a joke and I wouldn't blame a person one bit for not taking it.  If a call was broken while in transit it was due to poor packaging, not poor handling.  A properly packaged item will not be broken by a postal worker. 

Now as far as handling the situation correctly.  You did everything properly and more so.  I too would of recommended that he send the call back and that you replace the slate at no cost to the customer and offer to pay for the postage.  Giving him a new call was above and beyond of what you should of done.  But it was not the Post Office fault for the slate being broke in shipment.

bird

[Cut*N*Run]

I would likely have asked him to send the call back and I would have replaced the surface at no charge.  You did go above and beyond.  Kudos to you.

Agreed. If it's someone who's bought a few calls already I'll just send out a new one, but I've had  people try to pull fast ones on ebay.

[Cut*N*Run]

Just realized that I had a dream (nightmare?) last night that all the glass calls I ever made all started cracking at once. Scary stuff right there.

[stone road turkey calls]

I new someone was going to go postal. i am a self insurer yes usps insurance is a joke,  you might as well drop your money on the floor and leave. 

[pappy]

I agree with everyone on the issue of replacing the call, you could have asked to have had him take a pic of the call and box to see if it was mis-handled by the usps, but if you trusted him to be honest then that is between you and him. I do have to say this, I have recieved boxes, and got reports of boxes being ripped open...stepped on and yes opened and resealed and missing, so in my opinion insurance is a joke, proper packaging is a must, but to tell you the truth, I am beginning to believe that services be it usps ups or fed ex is getting worse and therefore you bounce the ball and where it ends up you eat it.
YOU DID EXACTLY RIGHT BY SHOWING THIS FELLOW YOU ARE A REPUTABLE AND HONEST CALLMAKER

[doepee]

By sending a new call, I think you went above and beyond... very good service.. Although I would of asked for the broken call back...maybe even repaired that one.... I Have gotten the priority mail boxes and they were smashed but the call itself was not damaged..... not sure where it happened but I would guess and one of the ups terminals or a heavier box was thrown on top of it in the truck...

[Ozark Ridge Runner]

  A properly packaged item will not be broken by a postal worker. 



bird

:TooFunny:is right.  I had a VERY well packaged rifle come back from the stock maker with a AAAAA piece of Claro walnut that had FORKLIFT TIRE TRACKS on the outside of the box. 

[callmakerman]

You did the right thing but like the others I would have asked for the broken call back to fix it for resale. As far as the Post Office not breaking things or losing them for that matter give me a break. I work for a shipping company as well and see how things get tossed around. Our company  says you should pack something to survive a 4 foot fall but the customer never sees this or cares. Most people won't use extra packing because it will cost them more money for the shipping weight. Not saying this is what you did but when you work in the business I tend to use a little more bubble wrap.  Bill

[Old Gobbler]

I {UPS employee of 20 years} have seen my fair share of destroyed parcels

Every package is going to get some wear as it goes through the system , customers underestimate the level of wear - remember 20 cents worth of packing tape will save you a thousand dollars of grief - pack those things real good

Packages do get destroyed at the rate of 1 in 3,000 units  - sometimes by damage by belt or diverters , service provider mishandling  like throwing a 70 pound box on top of your glass picture frame, stepping on the box etc...

I can tell you of stories  of people shipping stuff they are not supposed to also - and I will leave it at that

It happens   

[OLE RASPY]

You went above and beyond and i commend u for that.Kudos to you.I sent off a set of sights in the mail to a guy on here and he just got the enveople with no sight in it.   Some postal people need to be trained on how to handle packages properly.I was at a ups center last year and when i walked in to get my package i had to step over a conveyor so the guy could hand me my package and i was sitting there waiting on that guy another guy came up and just slammed a package down on the conveyor instead of placing in gently.Anyway they dont take care of the stuff so i reccomend wrapping it real good.When i send guns off i put them in a cushion gun boot and wrapp it good.